It’s a good selection, and should allow you to hook up your favorite peripherals without the need of an adapter. The LAN port is especially welcome on a gaming laptop, offering as it does faster and more reliable network speeds. As with other gaming laptops in Asus’ TUF series, the Asus TUF A15 is a big, chunky device that’s a far cry from Asus’ Zephyrus range – but then, that’s part of the appeal. As the ‘TUF’ moniker alludes to, the Asus TUF A15 places build quality and durability at the forefront of its design. But then again, this costs less, performs spectacularly well for its class and price, and doesn’t majorly compromise on any important aspect that could perhaps kill it for some of you.

ASUS TUF A15 Gaming Laptop AMD Ryzen 7 8GB - Laptops Direct ASUS TUF A15 Gaming Laptop AMD Ryzen 7 8GB - Laptops Direct

For connectivity, there’s Gigabit Lan and Wireless AC through Realtek chips on this unit, but I can’t tell for sure whether the final versions will ship with the same wi-fi chip. We’ve mostly used our sample on wireless, and it performed well both near the router and at 30+ feet away with obstacles in between, without drops or other issues. For what is worth, though, upper-tier WiFi 6 notebooks were able to reach higher speeds with our setup. On opening the laptop, there are even more design choices to appeal to gamers. There’s the almost obligatory RGB lighting for the keys, and the all-important WASD keys are further highlighted with a translucent coloring, leaving you in no doubt that this is a laptop for gaming on.The keyboard hasn’t changed much between generations, except for the redesigned arrows, which are now smaller, but also better spaced from all the keys around. And don’t forget this is the higher-end configuration, but lower-tier versions with Ryzen 5 processors and GTX graphics might offer even greater value for their price. Final thoughts It is possible to move the SSD to the other M.2 slot and boot from there, which helps the SSD run cooler. I’m not seeing a significant increase in our readings, though, but I can confirm that the two slots run on independent PCIe x4 connections, and not a shared one as I was initially assuming. This article is a detailed review of their latest TUF Gaming A15 FA506 update, based on an AMD Ryzen 4000 platform and Nvidia RTX graphics. Launched in the first half of 2020, this model follows up on the highly popular Asus TUF FX505 models of 2019, and they’re more than just a hardware bump.

Asus TUF A15 review | TechRadar Asus TUF A15 review | TechRadar

We’ll pitch the FA506 against the FX505 and an Intel-based i7/RTX 2060 configuration in a separate article. Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others Keep in mind that lower-tier TUF Gaming FA506 configurations might only ship with a 60 Hz panel, most likely a variation of the 60 Hz Panda LM156LF in the base FX505 models. That’s dimmer, slower and more washed out, so I’d stay away from it. Hardware and performance In fact, this screen caters alright for what the TUF Gaming FA506IV is: a budget-friendly gaming laptop, where the increased refresh rate, faster response time and implemented Adaptive Sync come in handy. On top of these, this 144 Hz panel is also 20% brighter than the previous 120 Hz version implemented on the FX505s. W (~9+ h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 70%, Wi-Fi ON; The actual transfer speed of USB 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, and/or Type-C will vary depending on many factors including the processing speed of the host device, file attributes and other factors related to system configuration and your operating environment.

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Finally, gaming on battery (on Performance) is also possible. In this case, the CPU is still limited and the GPU runs at 50W. I’d recommend disabling Battery Boost in the GeForce Experience app, or at least up the default 30 fps limit. We’ve talked elsewhere about how AMD’s Ryzen 4000 mobile processors could transform gaming laptops, and the Asus TUF A15 is a great example of this, with eight cores and 16 threads bringing a level of power we’d expect to see in much more expensive laptops. Once more, the Ryzen 7 4800H processor smokes the existing Intel mainstream competition in Blender and the CPU intensive parts of Specviepwerf, even outmatching the more expensive Core i9s. However, updates are coming for the Intel i7s as well with their 10th gen platform. With that in mind, though, here’s what we got on our review unit, with the screen’s brightness set at around 120 nits (~70 brightness). There’s a 90Wh battery inside this TUF Gaming FA506 version. Asus offers the series with either a 48 Wh (and HDD cage) or a 90 Wh battery, and I’d recommend opting for the latter.

ASUS TUF Gaming A15 - ASUS United Kingdom

The TUF Gaming A15 FA506 is not yet widely available at the time of this article, and we’ll update the section once that changes. We’ve come to never expect too much from a gaming laptop when it comes to battery life, but the Asus TUF A15 doesn’t do too badly here, with the PCMark 10 battery life benchmark, which replicates moderate use, taking five and a quarter hours to drain the battery. Next, we’ve run the entire suite of tests and benchmarks, first of all on the Performance profile in Armoury Crate.

The testing regime includes the requirements of both military-grade standards and ASUS quality tests, and varies depending on device. MIL-STD-810 testing is conducted on selected ASUS products only. Note that the MIL-STD-810 testing helps to ensure the quality of ASUS products but does not indicate a particular fitness for military use. The test is performed under laboratory conditions. Any damage caused by attempts to replicate these test conditions would be considered accidental, and would not be covered by the standard ASUS warranty. Additional coverage is available with ASUS Premium Care. Update: I think I figured out what’s going one here. As shown in those pictures above, there’s a heatpipe that goes right next to the main SSD, and that is what’s causing the drive to get hot. I experienced the exact same behavior on the A15 FA506IU we’re currently reviewing, but not on the A17 FA706II, which is the lower-tier GTX 1650TI configuration that doesn’t require that heatpipe. You can also notice that Asus wrapped the SSD in a thermal shield, but that’s not enough to keep it cool, and the high temperatures could lead to potential long-term reliability issues. Finally, the camera is placed on top of the screen, flanked by microphones. It’s OK for occasional calls, but laggy and grainy, so don’t expect much. Battery life Of course, AMD’s Ryzen 4000 H hardware is a major step-up from the Ryzen 3000 H in the previous generation, with an impact on both performance and efficiency, as you’ll see down below. However, the FA506 generation also improves on exterior design and ergonomics, as well as adds features and configuration options not available before on TUFs, while remaining competitively priced.